Few regions of the world have been as vital to rock and metal as the American South. The music of the southern states carries a sense of being forgotten and underestimated by the country’s fashionable coastal cities, as well as a darkness born out of the area’s bloody history of slavery and war. Whether it’s the roots-deep influence of Delta blues and country music, or the more modern contributions of everyone from Pantera to Power Trip, the south has brought power and emotion to music that just cannot be faked. Today, the south is proving as musically fertile as ever. A new breed of bands are lighting up the modern metal and hardcore scenes, armed with honest vulnerability and unironic fury that can be heard in music unhindered by worries about image and trends...
